The LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean video game isn’t the first in the video game arena but it’s the first family-oriented game. The past LEGO games like Star Wars and Batman (I think we own them all) are light-hearted and fun while still posing challenges for more experienced gamers.

Synopsis from Disney Interactive Studios:
LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game is an action adventure game brining to life the Pirates of the Caribbean world and all its colourful characters in Lego brick form. Players will experience all the memorable scens from the first three films as well as those in the upcoming fourth film, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Straner Tdes” in the humorous and quirky LEGO video game style.

Key features of the game that makes it so appealing for families:

Exploration – players can work their way through over 20 different levels, visiting scenes they’re familiar with from the movies. My kids loved seeing their favourite scenes. My son loved the games depiction of the Jack Sparrow scene where he’s on the Black Pearl, commanding a whole crew of himself.

Animated Sequences – As you complete goals, animated sequences with the LEGO themed Pirates of the Caribbean characters play. My daughter loved the scene of Jack fighting the kraken but with a toothbrush.

Two-Player Co-op - You can plan the game as a single player or as two players, working to achieve goals together. The split screen mode is great for family members who have different playing styles. My oldest likes to smash and explore versus my son who likes to fight and finish the level. The split level divides the screen in half should the two players get too far apart from each other in a scene; this enables the game to play to continue with little frustration (compared to the earlier LEGO games).

Family-Friendly Combat – okay, I admit that sounds like an oxymoron. Jack Sparrow and the cast of other characters use the weapons from the movie to attack and discover treasure. The characters weld swords and hammers and guns to blow things up but since they are LEGO characters there’s no gore or violence; characters explode into a pile of bricks that rebuild again for more game play.

Puzzles - Along with destroying things for money, players will be called to solve puzzles (repair machines to be able to start machinery, find 5 ships to build to earn a trophy). My kids loved these hidden elements to the game; solving puzzles to find secret entranes and getting extra rewards. Jack Sparrow also has a compass that you can check for other puzzles to solve. Pull it up and secrets tracks are revealed that players have to follow to get the reward.

Freeplay – There are certain tasks required to finish and unlock a level. Once unlocked you can replay that level in freeplay mode. This gives you access to all the characters you’ve collected throughout the game versus just the character you’re playing. This comes in handy since each character has unique abilities that can help you find new treasures or secrets to a level.

On-Going Fun – My son has played every level of the LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean game but the game play is still fun. Some tricks he knows but others he’s still discovering. There are so many ways to extend the game play even if you’ve finished all 20 levels. My son still hasn’t achieved True Pirate status in all the levels or has found all the ships in the bottle, created all the minikits or even solved all of the secrets on Jack Sparrow’s compass. This gives him and the rest of the family something to work towards.

Characters – You’ll find your favourite characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie in the LEGO game version. I really love how the game developers have captured Jack Sparrows tipsy walk. My daughters love that there are female characters to play like Elizabeth Swan and the Mermaids.

We own many of the LEGO games (and have played them often) but I must admit the LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean version is by far my favourite for a number of reasons:

• It’s not as dark (by this I mean the screen colouring). Many of the Pirates of the Caribbean scenes happen outside in daylight making them great to play without difficulty seeing what you’re doing
• The way they’ve tied the game into the movie but not duplicating it. It’s enjoyable to see LEGO’s fun twist on scenes we’ve all scene in the movie. The character recreation is great too, right down to Jack’s swagger
• It incorporates game play we like from previous LEGO titles but ads new Pirates of the Caribbean twists like sword fighting and adventures under the water. Even the shark attacks if you venture in parts of water where no game play occurs are a great laugh

We’ve been playing on the Xbox 360 so it did take us some getting use to the controls (all of our other LEGO games are on the Wii). My husband prefers the Xbox version for it’s picture quality. Game play has been great fun on the TV but I would be eager to get a copy for the DS for family road trips this summer. I can already here the quiet car ride to Florida.